Now that the prime minister has resigned, all political parties must use this as an opportunity to work together to end the current stalemate and create an environment of trust and cooperation so that the conclusion of the peace process and writing of the constitution becomes possible by May 28, 2011, when the extended life of the CA comes to an end. As the largest party in the CA and as a party which has a long list of past commitments to fulfill, the UCPN-Maoist must take on the onus of building consensus. We want to reiterate once again that the best successor to the outgoing government is a national consensus government led by the UCPN-Maoist.
The ball is, therefore, in the Maoist court. And that party must now show leadership to take all the parties into confidence and form a national consensus government. There is, however, a rider to a Maoist-led government: They must come out clearly with a commitment to implement all past agreements, including dismantling of the paramilitary structure of the YCL and return of all seized property, and with an explicit commitment to the right to private property and to a democratic constitution. Above all, they must set forth an unambiguous roadmap for sorting out the issue of their combatants.
If the Maoists do not come forth with explicit commitments on each one of these issues, it should be taken as their lack of readiness to fully subscribe to peaceful and democratic politics. In such a scenario, where the Maoists still seem to be gravitating toward the politics of violence, a government under their leadership should not be acceptable. Nepal´s sixty-year democratic struggle cannot surrender to any autocratic system or mindset. The only logical end to this democratic struggle is a situation where each and every political player in Nepal unconditionally accepts the consolidation of democracy as the only goal for the country.
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